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239-250. The map, created using data from SCI and SSCI (Thomson Reuters), a p-
peared originally in Maps of Science. 145
Science can be thought of as containing themes and paradigms. Themes are areas of
current research, while paradigms comprise the dominant tool sets and existing knowledge
that are used by today’s researchers. This map shows 776 major paradigms in science
along with the dominant relationships between these paradigms. Paradigms are
shown as circles; strong relationships between paradigms are indicated by the lines connecting
the circles. The map was created by recursively clustering the 820,000 papers
referenced most often in 2003. Clustering at each level was done using VxOrd, a forcedirected
graph layout routine. These papers formed 53,000 clusters, 6,100 higher-level
clusters, and finally 776 paradigms. Although each paradigm contains, on average, 1000
papers, some are larger and some are smaller, as shown by different sized circles on the
map.
The ring-like structure that formed by scientific paradigms is very robust. We find
similar structures for different years, and for maps generated from scientific journals.
“The structure of Science”, a galaxy map shown in the first iteration of Places & Spaces,
is a map based on clustering of scientific journals, with superimposition of papers on the
journal structure, whereas this map was generated directly from highly-cited papers. “The
Structure of Science” shows current science in a disciplinary context, while this map
shows the breadth of disciplines that contribute to single paradigms.
Because of the robust nature of the structure of science paradigms, we have placed
our 776 scientific paradigms within a reference system containing 12 radial slices and 6
rings. This allows the position of each paradigm to be codified and available for lookup;
for instance Fluid Mechanics paradigms are in grid B3.
We have also calculated and displayed the vitality of each paradigm. Vitality is a
measure of the speed at which a group of researchers reaches consensus about major improvements.
Paradigms are constantly being improved, but it usually takes years to reach
consensus about which improvements are major. The white circles represent communities
where consensus is reached relatively slowly. This is a common phenomenon in the
social sciences, ecological sciences, computer sciences, and mathematics disciplines.
The red circles represent communities of researchers where consensus is reached relatively
rapidly. This is more common in physics, chemistry, biochemistry and many
medical disciplines. Very dark circles (such as those in Astrophysics L5 -6) represent
communities where consensus is reached extremely quickly.
The map of scientific paradigms and its reference system can be used for multiple
purposes. Countries, industries, companies, universities, and individual researchers can
145 http://www.mapofscience.com.
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